ATLANTA , Georgia -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Crack-addicted Felicia Anderson was pregnant with her third child when an ultrasound changed the direction of her life .

After inpatient rehab , Felicia Anderson sought help from Mothers Making a Change to help beat her addiction .

`` You could hear that baby 's heartbeat strong and steady . Really , that 's her personality today , a strong , vibrant little girl . And at that time , laying there , tears starting rolling down my face , '' Anderson , 44 , recalled .

In that moment , Anderson vowed to stay off drugs , something she 'd been unable to do in more than a decade addicted to crack cocaine , even when she was pregnant with her first two children .

Anderson did n't think she could do it alone , so , like almost 2 million Americans a year , she entered a treatment program . Anderson spent three weeks in residential treatment -- all she could afford -- but did n't think that was enough , so she enrolled in Mothers Making a Change , a year-long outpatient drug and alcohol program in Atlanta , Georgia .

Three times as many Americans choose outpatient treatment as residential treatment , or rehab . It costs less , is more likely to be covered by insurance and does not require participants to leave work or their families for a month or more .

The outpatient program Anderson chose , Mothers Making a Change , is designed especially for pregnant women and women with young children . Anderson was both . At the time , her oldest daughter , Sierra , was 5 ; her middle child , Anicia , was almost 2 .

In addition to therapy and education , Mothers Making a Change provided transportation and offered free child care while Anderson was there . When she completed the program , Mothers Making a Change helped her find a job .

`` I can say with everything in me , with every bit of my breath , that program helped me turn my life around , '' said Anderson , who now runs a program to help the developmentally disabled in DeKalb County , Georgia . Interactive : Addiction and the brain ''

Like most programs , residential or outpatient , Mothers Making a Change is built on the 12 steps pioneered by Alcoholics Anonymous . Among them : Admit you 're powerless over your addiction , and turn your life over to a higher power .

`` It 's important in my opinion to have a connection with your spiritual world , your higher power , '' Anderson said . `` So I thank God , first of all , for giving me a second chance in life . ''

Anderson began drinking and smoking marijuana in high school . She moved on to snorting cocaine and then smoking it . She said her drug use began spiraling out of control when her husband , an Army infantryman , committed suicide after returning from Operation Desert Storm . She said the crack numbed her pain . Watch Felicia Anderson describe her experience ''

Anderson tried to hide her addiction , but the lies became harder to maintain . She lost weight . She could n't keep a job . And she began stealing to keep her children clothed and fed and to support her habit . She even stole their Christmas presents .

`` The gifts would be under the tree , and I needed some crack , and I would take whatever present was there , '' Anderson recalled .

`` The crack was my friend . The crack was my job . The crack was my children . You know , it was my life . So no matter how bad I wanted to stop , I could n't stop , '' she said .

Anderson said she even smoked crack as she went into labor with her second child .

`` That 's to tell you how bad off , how out of control , how much it did n't matter , '' she said . `` But I could n't stop . I could n't stop . ''

Caught shoplifting repeatedly , Anderson said , she was facing a five-year prison sentence in Maryland for violating probation when her brother Brian Robinson intervened . He convinced the judge to let Anderson and her two daughters come to Georgia with him and to let his sister check into rehab instead of going to jail .

Like many addicts , Anderson hit rock bottom before seeking treatment . Counselors and others say most addicts get help only when they get in trouble at home , at work , with their health or with the law .

Anderson went for her ultrasound and had an epiphany .

`` Something inside me -- and I would say it 's the voice of God -- saying , ` You can do this . ' And laying there at that moment , I did say to myself , ' I can do this . Let me try to do this . ' That was a turning point for me , '' Anderson said . `` That baby that was born was born drug-free . ''

Anderson said that she has been drug-free for 12 years and that she 's lucky : Her older two children did not suffer any health consequences from her addiction .

Anderson now has everything she had lost for a big part of her adult life : a stable home life , a job . Also , she 's engaged .

`` There 's all kinds of beautiful things happening for me and my daughters right now . ''

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When she heard her baby 's heartbeat , Felicia Anderson vowed to give up drugs

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She could afford 3 weeks in residential treatment , then moved to outpatient

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Three times as many Americans choose outpatient treatment as residential rehab

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Anderson , now clean 12 years , says program `` helped me turn my life around ''